Ping’anShihezi (@平安石河子)：#关于实行护照年审的紧急通知##EmergencyNoticeOnAnnualPassportInspection: On the request of higher authorities, please take your passports to the hukou site at your local police station or the Shihezi Public Security Bureau’s Entry and Exit Administration Department for an annual inspection. After the inspection, all applicants’ valid passports will remain in official custody for safekeeping. If a resident does not comply, they will assume responsibility for their being forbidden from leaving the country.

From now on all passport applicants please first go to the hukou site of your local police station with your biometric data, then proceed to the Immigration Bureau to collect an application form. Applicants need to obtain approval letters and stamps from your neighborhood committees. Those who are currently employed must also obtain approval stamps from employers’ administration or HR department. All other passport application procedures will remain unchanged.

These provisions will be effective upon the issuance of this notice. Consultation telephone: 15209932158

[…] An employee who answered the phone at the Shihezi police department entry and exit bureau on Thursday confirmed the new rules, saying they are currently being rolled out across the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

“The official deadline for passports to be handed in … is Feb. 16, 2017,” the employee said.

“The policy applies across the whole of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”

[…] A resident of Shihezi told RFA on Thursday that the new rules had made life far less convenient for local people.

“I’m a little reluctant to hand in my passport, because now I’ll have to get it back off the police if I want to leave the country,” the resident said.

[…] Ilshat Hasan, president of Uyghur American Association, told RFA the passport policy signaled a harsh approach to Uyghur communities.

“I don’t think this policy will bring any benefit to the region. This will increase resentment and resistance in the region and this kind of harsh policy will create a large-scale exodus, as people will try to escape by different means,” he said. [Source]

Some netizens agreed that this policy could be excessive and counterproductive. NiXianshengDeWeibo (@尼先生的微博) commented, “ID cards should also be collected for annual inspection. Each time someone wants to leave their house they have to obtain an approval stamp, then head to the police station to retrieve their card, only then can they go out. So convenient! Forwarding the spirit of efficiency in Xinjiang.” This post has since been deleted.

Over the years, I’ve been a proud child of Xinjiang. Even during especially sensitive periods when outsiders questioned the clamor, I’d tell friends of the beauty and passion, the abundance and splendor of our region. But even if you love your native land, it may not return that respect and support. Previously, Hong Kong and Macao had experienced many passport barriers, but even they’d be surprised to see this new policy. Xinjiang passports had previously been cancelled, and some will not be returned to Xinjiang residents. The Shihezi PSB Exit and Entry Bureau without any explanation ordered all individuals to turn over their passports, and those who don’t do so by the deadline face risk of cancellation. Personal freedom of movement is not guaranteed, and the rights of the citizens are being violently trampled upon. This overstepping of public rights recalls the preposterous losses faced after July 5. I’m waiting for an explanation, and a fair and just proposal to resolve this. [Chinese]

XingfuChengguan (@幸福城关): #YunxiPoliceCall August 22, 8:00 AM, A French man came to Yunxi on his travels. As he was preparing to hitch a ride towards Xi’an, a bus driver mistook him for a Xinjiang person and called the police. A police officer came, and after examining his passport found a truck that was heading in the direction of Xi’an that could offer him a ride. Before leaving, the Frenchman shook hands in thanks. [Chinese]

The above post drew mockery from netizens, some of whom highlighted how this type of prejudice could worsen the situation. Weibo user @M-Mustafa said, “So you see a Xinjianger and immediately call the police. How does this not compel those from Xinjiang towards rebellion?” BaiYulin (@柏蔚林) drew attention to propaganda campaigns aimed at encouraging ethnic unity that, at least for the bus driver who called the Yunxi police, seem to be failing miserably: “So a Xinjianger automatically equals an enemy, what kind of extended Chinese ethnic family is that? Can we be any more idiotic?” Fellow Weibo user @pi1otsaid simply, “Foreign lives matter!”